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E.L. Events to dissolve

Board members request financial assistance from the city for unpaid bills

By Jessica Maher Reporter-Herald Staff Writer

Posted:
10/17/2013 12:33:29 PM MDT

Citing financial hardship, an independent Loveland nonprofit has thrown in the towel, leaving behind $44,000 in bills and asking for the city's help to pay local vendors.

The board of E.L. Events (formerly Engaging Loveland) has moved to dissolve the entity that was formed in 2006.

Board chairman Christian Bordewick told the city's Community Marketing Commission on Wednesday that the board discussed an exit strategy more than a year ago but was hoping to get back on the right track in 2013 and be able to dissolve quietly and in the black.

That did not happen. Two of the organization's signature events -- Snow Sculpture in the Dark and July's Loveland Loves BBQ, Bands and Brews -- underperformed, in no small part because of inclement weather.

February's snow sculpture event was unseasonably warm, while the annual BBQ event downtown had rain for both nights.

"I think there were a lot of factors that were out of our control, and I think we were trying to address those as best we could, and unfortunately we couldn't make that happen," Bordewick said.

When executive Director Kristine Koschke resigned in August, the board decided not to replace her and began steps toward dissolution.

"I can tell you myself and everyone else on the board takes this matter very seriously. It's not a position anybody wants to be in, but we're in it nonetheless," Bordewick said.

Financial Assistance Request

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Bordewick and board vice chairman Sean McCarthy went before the Community Marketing Commission on Wednesday to make a financial assistance request for lodging tax dollars to pay a portion of the $44,327 outstanding expenses, the majority of which stem from this year's Loveland Loves BBQ, Bands and Brews.

The city has no legal responsibility to pay the debts of the private, independent entity, Economic Development Director Betsey Hale said.

When E.L. Events was formed as Engaging Loveland, it was a joint venture of the city, Loveland Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Loveland Association and The Ranch.

The city was directly involved with the organization for the first three years but has since had annual contractual agreements with the organization to carry out specific events.

Those events, Hale said, served an economic, social and cultural public purpose and far outpaced the city's investment.

E.L. Events has outstanding bills for the BBQ and snow sculpture events as well as the 2012 Loveland Art Studio Tour, each of which the city contributed $10,000 in lodging tax dollars toward for marketing purposes.

Under the ballot language that established the lodging tax, funds can be spent only for marketing and community events. So of the total bills submitted by E.L. Events, about half would be ineligible for the city to help with.

Though Community Marketing Commission members said they were conflicted about the decision, they ultimately recommended that the City Council approve using $21,000 of lodging tax revenue to help eligible E.L. Events expenses.

"This is not a big enough city to get a black eye with vendors," commissioner Kurt Albers said.

The council will make the final decision on whether to use the lodging tax to repay about 20 local vendors. The money would come out of lodging tax reserves, a fund that currently has more than $1 million in it, Hale said.

Unanswered Questions

If the council approves the use of lodging tax revenue to pay eligible expenses, it still leaves several local businesses holding the bag on substantial bills. How those could be paid could depend on the dissolution process with the state, Hale said.

E.L. Events has less than $3,000 in the bank, assets that default to the city of Loveland. But Hale said that money could also be used to pay pressing expenses related to sales tax to the city of Loveland and the Colorado Department of Revenue -- both of which would be ineligible for lodging tax expenditure.

Commissioners were also concerned about the lingering, signature events. Loveland Loves BBQ, Bands and Brews, Snow Sculpture in the Dark and the City with HeART program are all left without an organization to run them.

Hale said there has been discussion about how to handle certain events and said the Community Marketing Commission could even bid out the events to keep them alive.

"I think there's definitely value in these particular events and also in pursuing processes to keep these events going, so we're going to do that," Hale said.

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